Special Issues

Game On: Deadlight

More Zombies? Yes...More Zombies.

August 6, 2012, 2:30 pm

By Alex De Vore

That Mario clown had it easy.

The Gist
I am fruitlessly scavenging for weapons and ammunition while the rain
pours down on me in sheets. I've been separated from my my group for
days now, and leaving my gun with them for protection now seems like a
terrible idea. I make my way through abandoned buildings and
litter-strewn alleyways coming ever closer to my goal, to my family.
Glass shatters somewhere in the distance and a car alarm blares. My
entire body tenses up for a moment before I decide I'll be fine for
now...but when the unmistakable scream of the undead breaks the eerie
silence, I know I've only got one choice—run.

Xbox Live's 2012 Summer of Arcade is upon us, and with it comes
several weeks of high-profile downloadable titles in varying genres.
Thus far, the offerings have been decent at best (why you'd include
that awful Downhill Jam level in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD is beyond me), but developer Tequila Works' Deadlighthas hit consoles, and it's the first must-own arcade title of summer.

The year is 1986, and a terrifying zombie outbreak has torn across
America leaving most everyone dead, dying or worse. You are Randall
Wayne, a Canadian park ranger who was separated from his family during
the initial days of thehorror and, along with just about everyone else in the Pacific Northwest, you are heading to Seattle. A mysterious radio broadcast has promised
safe haven in the Emerald City, and if your wife and daughter are
anywhere, it's there. The one problem is that there are countless
shadows (this is the name used for zombies in this game) between you
and the safe point. The survivors have gone mad as well, and it seems
like each step forward takes our hero two steps back. There is so much
between you and your goal that it would be easier to just give up and
die, but when it comes to finding your family, there is no obstacle too
great, no undead army too immense.

The GoodYour first thought might have something to do with sadness over
yet another piece of zombie anything, but it's really Wayne's descent
into sadness and ultimate redemption that are on display here. Deadlight
focuses more on its main character's internal monologue and personal
struggles than his surroundings or enemies, and the realization he
comes to at the climax is one of the most heat-wrenching conclusions
found within a story in any medium. Now that's not to say that there
won't be a whole mess of shadows to slaughter along the way. Combat is
hard to get a handle on at first, but once you get the hang of swinging
your fireman's axe into your foes, it is satisfying and challenging in
all the right ways. Guns eventually come into play, and Tequila Works'
sporadic use of firearms is a refreshing change of pace from so many
run and gun titles. Oh, and it's super-fun to blast the heads off of
zombies...it always is.

Deadlight is, first and
foremost, a side-scroller. But by making wonderful use of Epic's Unreal
engine, the developers have added gorgeous dimension to a 2D world.
Seattle's naturally beautiful lighting provides the perfect filter for
areas that are layered, detailed and beautiful. And though you won't be
traveling in three dimensions, it's hard not to stop and admire the
level of care Tequila Works has utilized in creating its backgrounds.
City streets are alive (so to speak) with activity whether it's
shuffling shadows or panicked people, and once you've reached the more
metropolitan areas, buildings and parks are recreated with anobvious care. This looks a whole hell of a lot like Seattle, and it is breathtaking at times.

Cutscenes appear in the form of comic book style stills. This definitely conjures Walking Dead images in one's head, but Deadlight
is unique enough to steer clear of any real comparison. These cinematic
moments build some serious tension and give us a little insight into
Wayne's humanity. Plus there are a few of these comic-like panels that
attain downright beauty.

The BadThere are moments to be found all through Deadlight
that are just plain confusing/frustrating. It can be a little unclear
what you're supposed to be doing and, more often than not, checkpoints
are placed at moments that wrestle control away from the player. If I
had to watch Wayne climb out of a sewer and say something about his
surroundings because I didn't notice that one skylight was waiting to
be shattered one moretime, I
was going to lose it. Yes, a lot of games have added more and more
moments of decreased interactivity in recent years, and this has taken
the overall challenge of the medium down a few notches. However, there
is a major difference between challenging and outright ridiculous.

Voice acting is fairly mediocre for the most part with the exception
of Wayne. The monologue does tend to be melodramatic, but the other
characters you meet along the way are usually so ridiculously bad that
you'll long for them to shut up so you can get back to axing heads.
These sub-par performances are jarring and have a tendency to take you
out of the moment. It almost sounds like these people have never worked
as voice actors before, and somebody really should have been on top of
this.

Much of the back story is fleshed out through the discovery of
missing pages from Wayne's journal. These pages are exceedingly
well-written and paint the picture of a man struggling with an
uncomfortable existence. Wayne is trapped between a desire for solitude
away from civilization and the attachments to society that come with
having a wife and daughter. So how is this bad? Finding these pages
becomes pretty damn hard when there is no indication unless you walk
right over one. Presumably this is to spur players into multiple plays of the game, but I would rather replay a game because it's good than to find the last few pages of a diary.

The Bottom LineDeadlight is basically Limbo meets Metroid.
It's a dark and scary platformer that heaps on plenty of exploration,
violence and storytelling. Yes, zombies are becoming tired at this
point, but Tequila Works has achieved something truly special with this
game. From the perfect length to the tight gameplay, this is the stuff
we've come to expect from Xbox's annual Summer of Arcade promotion.
Summertime is always rough for hardcore gamers as publishers hold off
on releasing their best titles til the holiday season. Deadlight
fills a little bit of that void, and it stands out as one of the best
downloadable titles in recent memory. Do you need Deadlight? Yes. You
absolutely do.

The ScoreLet it be known to all men and women that Deadlight receives 4.2 out of 5 stars